As a great corporate citizen, Starbucks invests in many initiatives to minimize the environmental impact of its disposable cups.
Front of store recycling has been a key initiative for them. However, Starbucks quickly learned that collaborative efforts are necessary to make it a success. When local infrastructure is not set up to pick the collected cups and take them to facilities for recycling, the collected cups remain an issue.
So measuring how many stores have the front of store recycling program set up is not a good indicator. A better measure is the number of stores where the cups are actually picked up and accepted for recycling. Starbucks changed the measures accordingly.
For your business, are you measuring sometime that is truly meaningful or are you reporting on something that is a feel good measure? To differentiate the two, you need to look at the results you monitor from outside in and ask the ‘so what’ question. Don’t get stuck with a measure if it doesn’t make sense.
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